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CSX Cumberland Locomotive Shops

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CSX Cumberland Locomotive Shops
Posted by NathanK5LA on Sunday, June 28, 2009 11:55 AM

 I wanted to do this type of shot for over a year and i finally got around to pulling it off yesterday. Was a little sick after i got my feet back on the ground. I will post and add some of the other angles i got later.

 Enjoy, Tom

           http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=288855

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Posted by trainfan1221 on Sunday, June 28, 2009 1:15 PM

Nice shot!

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Posted by carnej1 on Sunday, June 28, 2009 1:45 PM

Was that taken from an aircraft you were piloting?

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Posted by bubbajustin on Sunday, June 28, 2009 2:57 PM

Stunning shot! Looks like some U-Boats there too.

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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Sunday, June 28, 2009 3:24 PM

Wow !  Love the composition - the angles draw you right into the center.  Thumbs Up  Lots of details to see, too.

Thanks for sharing ! 

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Posted by BaltACD on Sunday, June 28, 2009 5:13 PM

Any idea what the pole building in the left foreground is used for?

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Posted by Modelcar on Sunday, June 28, 2009 9:20 PM

NathanK5LA
 I wanted to do this type of shot for over a year and i finally got around to pulling it off yesterday

Wow....that is a great shot.  No question about that turntable being active.

Thanks for sharing.

Quentin

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Posted by NathanK5LA on Sunday, June 28, 2009 9:37 PM

carnej1

Was that taken from an aircraft you were piloting?

The shot was taken from a small Cessna aircraft that a friend was piloting.

 

 Tom

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Posted by Goober on Sunday, June 28, 2009 9:46 PM

Awesome photo!   It looks to me that some of the round house has been taken down??  Does anyone know for sure if that is the case?

Again, thanks for such a nice shot!

 

Jared

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Posted by tree68 on Monday, June 29, 2009 12:39 PM

BaltACD

Any idea what the pole building in the left foreground is used for?

No, but it's been there for at least some time - it shows up on the satellite pics on Acme Mapper.

It appears to have an opening down the peak of the roof, and shows signs of exhaust at two points, so I'm guessing it's used to get the locos out of the worst weather for minor stuff that will take too long to do out where you're exposed to the weather, but isn't worth moving into one of the buildings.

Of course, I am guessing, so when someone who really knows shows up, we'll really find out...  Smile

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Posted by NastyBrit on Monday, June 29, 2009 4:28 PM
BaltACD

Any idea what the pole building in the left foreground is used for?

 

Hello All! That open-ended shed in the lower-left corner of the picture was built sometime during the 1980s to house Ross Rowland's former C&O 4-8-4 steam loco No. 614. I can't recall if that was during the two years that Chessie's Safety Express operated or if the big kettle was on shed at Cumberland in long-term storage. Since it does offer some weather protection, the structure has likely been retained for the reasons another writer has mentioned. As for the roundhouse, it's been in its present configuration since at least 1970. My first visit there was in June 1970, as a lad of 12, and I remember standing just where that orange machine is between the left side of the roundhouse and the three loco tracks next to the aforementioned shed. Whilst I was there with my mum and step-dad, freshly-painted B&O Alco S-2 shunter 9078 emerged from a roundhouse stall, was turned, and sent off into the yard. A few minutes later, C&O Railway E8 came along after bringing a short passenger train west to Cumberland and got a spin to ready it for the return trip to Washington. Those three engine tracks were full of B&O GP9s and the area between them and the roundhouse had a row of shopmen's automobiles, including two Chevy Corvairs! Imagine being able to walk about such a busy engine terminal with no fear of being chucked out - the railwaymen we met were all quite friendly - those were the days!

Cheers!

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Posted by phbrown on Monday, June 29, 2009 4:53 PM

bubbajustin, it looks to me like all the GE's in that shot are Dash-8's, Dash-9's, or AC's, with two exceptions:

  1. The engine on the near end (next to the fence) of the first track left of the roundhouse
  2. The engine on the far end (nearer the turntable) of the third track to the left of the roundhouse

I'd actually bet that both those engines are Dash-7's, not true U-boats—I thought there weren't any U-boats left on Class I rosters—but I can't see the (pretty subtle) differences in this picture.

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Posted by The Railwolf on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 12:20 AM

My guess is that those are both B36-7's, as they're the only older GE's on CSX in any number.

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Posted by bubbajustin on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 4:49 PM

Oh yes. I bet those are B36-7's. I just took a peak at the CSX locomotive roster, and there are no more U-boats it looks like. A quick skim though.

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Posted by The Railwolf on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 8:02 PM

 Yep, it's quite sad for the GE fans, actually. I always thought it kind of weird how fast CSX got rid of the older six-axle GE power, too.

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Posted by Modelcar on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 8:35 PM

Goober
It looks to me that some of the round house has been taken down??  Does anyone know for sure if that is the case?

 

I have no data in front of me, but it sure appears the roundhouse was at least 230 degrees of a circle at one time....Check the concrete over on the left side of the photo.  Sure seems evident {by the photo}, the building extended around over on that left side.

Quentin

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Posted by calpoly48 on Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:22 PM

it looks like there is a number of AC6000's in those lines as well.

 is CSX retiring them as well?

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Posted by AgentKid on Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:52 PM

Man, I almost made a bad mistake by passing over this thread because I'm not really a CSX fan. That is a wonderful picture.Thumbs Up

Of course being me, the first question I had was how old is that roundhouse and turntable? I always enjoy seeing still surviving old CPR stuff, but when it's that old here it is never that large of scale. I'll bet Calgary was mighty backwoodsy by comparison when that facility was built.

That photo is a real keeper.Thumbs UpBig Smile

AgentKid

 

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